Kolkata, May 9 (PTI) The COVID-19 pandemic cast its shadow on the 160th birth anniversary celebrations of Rabindranath Tagore on Sunday, as the usual visitors were missing at the Nobel laureate poet's birthplace at Jorasanko in Kolkata, while cultural organisations went the virtual way to host programmes on the occasion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid tribute to Tagore and called for realising his dreams.

"On Tagore Jayanti, I bow to the great Gurudev Tagore. May his exemplary ideals keep giving us strength and inspiration to build the India he dreamt of," the PM tweeted.

Dhankhar, in his message, made a jibe on the post-poll violence in West Bengal, which has claimed several lives.

"Tribute to composer of NATIONAL ANTHEM, great philosopher & writer, Nobel Laureate, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore on his birth anniversary. Unleashing of violence @MamataOfficial on those who exercised right to vote was not his dream. Let's resolve to realize his dream," he said in a tweet.

The governor also shared the famous poem of Tagore: "Where the mind is without fear"

"Homage to Kobiguru Rabindranath Tagore on his 160th birth anniversary. May his ideals be the guiding force in all our endeavours," the chief minister said in a Twitter post.

Banerjee later inaugurated the state-sponsored cultural programme on the occasion of the Bard's birth anniversary at Rabindra Sadan, a government auditorium.

Due to the pandemic situation, performances of Rabindra Sangeet exponents such as Sraboni Sen and Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta and other singers were live-streamed from their residences.

The chief minister also paid floral tribute to the poet's statue at the auditorium compound.

"Keeping in mind the Covid situation, we have to resort to this. However, Rabindra Jayanti celebrations can reach lakhs of homes across the state in this way," Banerjee said.

She described Tagore as a great visionary who connected Bengal with the entire world through his writings.

Banerjee and several government officials who were accompanying her joined singer-turned-TMC MLA Indranil Sen when he sang a Rabindra Sangeet.

A cultural programme is held every year at the 'Thakur Bari' in Jorasanko, the birthplace of Tagore, by state-run Rabindra Bharati University (RBU). However, it was not organised this year due to the Covid-19 situation and the usual gathering of people was missing.

"Last year, we could not organise the annual open air function due to the Covid situation and lockdown. The situation is worse this time.

"We only prayed at the room where he was born and where he breathed his last and paid floral tribute. We had to bar the entry of visitors also to the two rooms," RBU Vice- Chancellor Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury said.

Cultural organisations like 'Dakshini' have done away with the usual celebrations of past years and went for the virtual mode with members uploading videos of song and dance performances on social media pages.

Prosenjit Pal, a member of a cultural organisation at Agarpara in the Northern suburbs of Kolkata, said, "We organise a Rabindra Jayanti function in the evening every year in our locality. This year we are conducting the show on virtual mode where individuals perform at home and upload it on social media along with messages to fight the pandemic."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)